Located on the bank of Jialing River in Shapingba District of Chongqing, Ciqikou Old Town is on the first batch of national urban historic conservation area list. Ciqikou Old town is also the only historic town in China that situates in the high-density urban center of a metropolis.
To promote the conservation and development of this old town, the car-free street project together with an overall regeneration plan was started in 2019. The regeneration plan aims to make the historic sites in Shapingba District, including Ciqikou Old Town, Gele Mountain, Bai’s House and Zhazi Cave, be the new landmarks of Bayu culture. This plan introduces four objectives for regenerating the historic areas including to conserve and exhibit the Bayu styles, to be the international cultural travel destination, to be a new cluster of creative industries in Western China, and to be the place for cultural exchanges with other countries. This plan estimates a list of construction projects to improve the built environment of the old town and increase its attraction. Changing the Citong Road into a car-free street is one of the implemented projects.
On June 29th, 2021, a ceremony was held in Shapingba District to celebrate that Citong car-free street and other six projects were successfully built or started to be constructed, which including the opening of Hou street, the start of Wai street construction, built up of Shabin street, the opening of Ciqikou port, built up of night lights in Ciqikou and the Chongqing 1949 theatre put in use.
An aerial view of Ciqikou old town and the site of Citong Road. (Source: CAUPD WEST BRANCH)
In the south of Ciqikou Old Town, Citong Road was first built in the late 1990s as a two-way four-lane street. This street was used both for urban traffic and for travelers to arrive at attractions in Ciqikou for a long time. The buildings along the street were of low quality and different styles of the old town.
Photos of Citong Road before the renewal. (Source: CAUPD WEST BRANCH)
CAUPD WEST BRANCH, the design company of Citong Road, proposed to make the new Citong Road a lounge of the old town and show the beauty of Bayu culture. The design of this car-free street considered the requirements of tourists, residents of the old town area and the other citizens. Considering urban planning, landscape design, architecture design, activity planning, transportation planning, urban facility planning, advertisements and public arts, the street renewal project focuses on four aspects, including increment of block density, improvement of architectural style, improvement of landscape design and establishment of culture scenery.
This renewal street is 1.275 km in length and its first phase of construction contains 21 building works of 10.88 sq. meters, ground landscape work of 52 000 sq. meters and optimization of surrounding street layout.
The Citong car-free street is an important part of Ciqikou Old Town and the connection with surrounding areas. (Source: CAUPD WEST BRANCH)
An aerial view of Citong car-free street in Ciqikou Old Town. (Source: CAUPD WEST BRANCH)
Some before and after comparative photos show the big changes made by this car-free street renewal project.
A corner in the west of the street: the dilapidated buildings and weedy plants have been repaired. A new diaojiao building, a type of traditional architecture in Chongqing, was built up to show the style of old town in a mountainous city.
Repair the old houses, design a new diaojiao building and make landscape design to renew the corner cliff. (Source: CAUPD West Branch). (Source: CAUPD WEST BRANCH)
Before and after photos of the corner cliff. (Source: CAUPD WEST BRANCH)
Paifang of old town: Paifang, a kind of Chinese traditional structure, shows the entrance of Ciqikou Old Town, but before the renewal project, the four-lane street at the front of Paifang was always busy with traffic and made people hard to find the entrance. Now, there is a square, called Qianqu square, on the car-free street which can help people easily find the Paifang and the entrance of old town.
Photo before renewal project, design drawing and present photo of Qianqu Square. (Source: CAUPD WEST BRANCH)
The Qianqu Square and paifang of Ciqikou Old Town. (Source: CAUPD WEST BRANCH)
East entrance of car-free street: a traffic street has changed to a pedestrian-friendly space.
Photo before renewal project, design drawing and present photo of east entrance. (Source: CAUPD WEST BRANCH)
The new street becomes a public place for tourists and residents. (Source: CAUPD WEST BRANCH)
Design for details: some details the design of street furniture, such as the light, seat and bin, is inspired by an ancient front that used to be popular in the Song dynasty, called Jiu Die Zhuan.
Photos of Street furniture (Source: CAUPD WEST BRANCH)
Night lights design: using night lights the designers give people joyful experiences at night and make Ciqikou old town more attractive.
Photos of night scene (Source: CAUPD WEST BRANCH and Shapingba Media Center)
The night view of Ciqikou Old Town (Source: Shapingba Media Center)
Company name： West Branch of China Academy of Urban Planning and Design
Cooperation company name: General Research Institute of Architecture & Planning Design Co.,LTD, Chongqing University
Design Team：Zhang Shenghai, Liu Jingbo, Wang Haili, Yu Weiying, Chen Xixi, Bao Tianbo, Liang Ce, Peng Yu, Li Bo, Song Xin, Wang Kun, Xiong Jun, Wei Fengruizhi, Wang Xianwei, Liu Jiawei, Hu Lingxi, Wu Haotian, Chen Junxi, Zhang Di, Cheng Yixin, Deng Daijiang, Liu Yuting, Zhao Dongyang
Author: Wang Haili
Source: <https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/gvR-uUyfs0t6Nl4KEqrTfg>
Edited and translated by Jia Mengyuan
Copyright @ 2014 Urban Planning Society of China
Registration Number:05073892-1
